One More Secret (Legolas x male oc)

8

Oh this is a fun one. 

Legolas stares off into the distance. The boats are strong but small and perhaps made more cramped by the fact that Gimli, Legolas, and I all share one. His shoulder brushes mine as he rows. 

"I have taken my worst wound at this parting having looked my last upon that which is fairest. Henceforth I will call nothing fair unless it be her gift to me." Gimli laments.

"What was her gift?" Legolas asks him, his curiosity once again making an appearance. 

"I asked her for one hair from her golden head. She gave me three." The dwarf gushes and Legolas smiles. He knows, as well as I do, how much of an honor that particular gift is. Fëanor, the creator of the Silmarils and King of Noldor long before my father, had asked Galadriel over and over again for a lock of her hair, which she refused. Gimli will probably never know how impressive having three strands of her hair truly is. 

Gimli will also not be forgiven by me or Legolas any time soon. It is clear he hates the boats. They are not built for him and he refuses to sit still. As he shift, my own gift from Galadriel, my father's spear Aeglos, falls out of the boat drops into the water. 

"Oh in the name of Varda." I say, frustrated as I stand. Legolas looks at me. 

"Elbereth." He says, as if correcting me, a wicked smile on his face. Varda is the queen of the Valar. Sindarin elves call her Elbereth. 

"Varda." I reply and step off the boat and into the water. There is truly no option, I have to go after  Aeglos. I thought the weapon lost after my father's death. When Galadriel gave it to me at our parting, she said nothing just gave me her most knowing smile and continued on to speak to Aragorn. I expect nothing else. 

"Oi! Where are you going?" Gimli yells as I step off the boat. I am not as clumsy as he is and the boat rocks gently as I leave it. Nothing else falls off.

The river Anduin is deep and I swim after the spear. I have to fight against the current to get back to where it floats by the shore. The river Anduin also flows fast and by the time I am clutching the spear, the boats have drifted quite a ways downstream even if the fellowship has stopped rowing. I can see Legolas turned to look back at me. 

"Go," I call to them, although at this distance Legolas is the only one who can likely hear me.  "I'll find you at night fall." It should be no trouble. I run faster than the boats could ever go. In fact, alone, I will likely reach a place to rest before they do. 

Legolas turns to tell the group what I've said and I assume they'll start rowing again. Instead Legolas hands the paddle to an obviously confused Gimli and jumps off the boat as well. The rest of the fellowship continues to row, Gimli struggling a bit, as Legolas swims towards me. 

"You needn't have done that." I say as he reaches the shore.

"Well I couldn't very well let you walk alone. Not in these times." He grins like a child. Legolas goes back and forth between being the perfect picture of courtesy and cunning and acting as if his actions have no consequences. Today it appears, he has chosen the latter. 

"Come on then." I step away from the river. "I think I've had quite enough of the water for today." 

He follows me up the banks of the river and into the sparse trees by the shoreline. We are both soaked and I hope that our clothes will dry by the time it gets dark. I take my hair from the braids it was in and shake it out. I comb my fingers through it. Legolas watches me. He copies me, taking his hair down from the braids. I have never seen it down before and now it is my turn to watch him. It might as well be a game at this point.